Lauraine Snelling reads: Louise Penny

October is supposed to be fall, or so I thought for years. Now I think that this September just took over and has kept us, and much of the rest of the country, in warm weather. Due to lack of water, many of the trees in the western half of the US are bypassing their usual fall array. Sad when even the aspens are loosing their leaves before turning copper and brass. Or perhaps the colors of fall are just late. I miss them.

We are back from our annual trek to Minot, ND for the Scandinavian festival, Hostfest. Fantastic time, as always, seeing so many long time friends and making new ones. We saw an unusual, for the area, animal on the return---a moose in a small valley off the freeway. She was all by herself with a pond and forage in the wilds of Wyoming. I hope she has other moose to keep her company through the winter. What a treat she was, along with herds of antelope and the largest V of flying geese I think I’ve ever seen.

I am always reading, at least for a while before sleep.

This month I want to introduce you to a new, at least to me, author in the murder mystery genre. Louise Penny sets her stories in the Quebec region of Canada, within a small town called Three Pines and all the inhabitants there becoming part of the stories. Chief Inspector Armand Gamache is a high officer in the Surete, similar to our FBI. He is an investigator who reminds me of Sherlock Holmes in the mental way of solving the crime, a true thinker, and teaches his subordinates the value of quiet and observation. On top of that, he is known for his kindness and sense of fairness. I would love to meet this man, shadow him for awhile. I know he’s a made up character but Gamache is a great officer for others in the field of criminal detection to imitate.

The plots are intricate, with inner and outer workings, and the characters so well portrayed that the reader can’t help but care for them. The residents of Three Pines are all ages, remarkably unusual, each with secrets and foibles of their own to enrich the plots.

This is one of only three authors whose books I have put on pre-order. One of the others was Jacqueline Winspear whose Maisie Dobs series I wrote about in the spring. Both are mystery writers and both take their writing to a degree of excellence that makes reading them even more entertaining and recommendable. I highly recommend the entire Penney series. Book one is titled “The Cruelest Month”, a great introduction to the characters in both of Gamache’s worlds. Just going back to checking spelling and I got sucked right into the story.

I’m wishing you all a cheery fall. Enjoy the weather and find more time to read as you put your yards and gardens to bed for the winter. Mine looks like a jungle right now. Happy reading and writing from Lauraine who is busy writing and sneaking some reading in because I’d probably go into meltdown if I couldn’t read at least a bit.